Bullies

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:" Ephesians 4:31 

I read that verse today and it made me sad.  It made me sad because the Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Saints and to the Faithful in Christ Jesus at the church in Ephesus.

Bullies in the House of God.

So, I did some research.  Did you know that in 2019 one out of five students (20.2%) reported bullying?  That percentage is only based on what was actually reported.  Many such cases do not get reported at all.  Every 7 minutes a child is bullied.  Over 160,000 kids refuse to go to school each day for fear of being bullied.  One million children were harassed or threatened on Facebook just this past year.

Children bully children, adult's bully children, adult's bully adults and children, bully adults.  Even the Prophet Elisha was bullied.

2 Kings 2:23 says, "And he went up from thence unto Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up thou bald head."

Websters dictionary defines bullies as-(noun) a blustering, browbeating person, one who is habitually cruel, insulting or threatening. (verb) to treat someone in a cruel, insulting, threatening, or aggressive fashion.

Angry speech is bullying, and the Apostle Paul warns us in Ephesians 4:31 to not behave that way.

I will be honest, when understanding the definition of a bully, in the past, I have been a bully.

If you are honest, you have to.

So, what do we do about bullying?

We follow what the Apostle Paul tells us in the next verse, Ephesians 4:32-

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Fred Rogers once said, "When I was boy, I used to think that strong meant having big muscles, great physical power; but the longer I live, the more I realize that real strength has much more to do with what is not seen.  Real strength has to do with helping others."

God help me not to be cruel in words or actions,

    and when I see someone being hurt by cruel words, God help me to step in with kind words-

        But that's just me!

"There are three ways to ultimate success:

    the first way is to be kind-

    the second way is to be kind-

    the third way is to be kind."

        Fred Rogers